Automotive Manufacturing Jobs in Riverside, CA (NOW HIRING)

We are seeking an experienced Production Manager with a strong manufacturing background and a comprehensive understanding of production operations, purchasing, supply chain, inventory management, and operational efficiency.

The Production Manager will be responsible for overseeing day-to-day manufacturing activities while ensuring production schedules, quality standards, costs, inventory levels, and customer requirements are consistently achieved. This role requires a hands-on operational leader who understands the entire flow of a manufacturing business—from purchasing raw materials and managing suppliers through production, inventory control, and finished-goods delivery.

The ideal candidate combines strong leadership skills with practical manufacturing experience, analytical thinking, and the ability to identify and resolve operational issues quickly.

• Manage daily manufacturing operations to ensure production schedules, quality standards, and customer requirements are met.
• Develop and maintain production schedules based on customer demand, capacity, labor availability, material availability, and delivery requirements.
• Monitor production performance, identify bottlenecks, and implement corrective actions to improve throughput and efficiency.
• Ensure effective utilization of labor, machinery, equipment, materials, and production capacity.
• Establish and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs), including productivity, on-time delivery, scrap, downtime, labor efficiency, and overall production performance.
• Work closely with supervisors and production teams to maintain a safe, organized, efficient, and productive manufacturing environment.
• Troubleshoot operational issues and drive timely resolution of production constraints.
• Implement Lean Manufacturing, continuous improvement, 5S, standard work, and other process-improvement initiatives where appropriate.

• Oversee purchasing activities to ensure materials, components, supplies, and services are available when needed.
• Develop purchasing strategies that balance cost, quality, lead time, inventory levels, and supplier reliability.
• Manage supplier relationships and work with vendors to improve pricing, quality, lead times, and delivery performance.
• Negotiate pricing, payment terms, lead times, minimum order quantities, and other commercial requirements as appropriate.
• Monitor supplier performance and proactively address shortages, delays, quality issues, and other supply risks.
• Identify and develop alternative suppliers when necessary to reduce supply-chain risk.

• Manage the flow of materials from suppliers through production and ultimately to finished goods and customers.
• Maintain appropriate inventory levels while minimizing excess, obsolete, and slow-moving inventory.
• Coordinate purchasing and production planning to ensure materials are available without unnecessarily increasing working capital.
• Monitor material requirements, lead times, demand fluctuations, and potential supply disruptions.
• Establish effective inventory-control processes and ensure accurate inventory records.
• Partner with sales, customer service, purchasing, and finance to align demand, inventory, and production requirements.
• Identify opportunities to reduce material costs, inventory carrying costs, freight costs, and operational waste.

• Translate customer demand and business requirements into practical production and purchasing plans.
• Collaborate with leadership to establish capacity plans, production priorities, staffing requirements, and operational objectives.
• Analyze operational data to identify trends, inefficiencies, and opportunities for improvement.
• Develop and maintain reporting for production, purchasing, inventory, supplier performance, and operational KPIs.
• Support budgeting, cost-control initiatives, capital equipment planning, and operational forecasting.
• Ensure manufacturing processes support company growth while maintaining quality, cost, and delivery objectives.

• Maintain high standards for product quality and manufacturing consistency.
• Partner with quality personnel to investigate root causes and implement corrective and preventive actions.
• Ensure employees follow established manufacturing procedures, safety requirements, and company policies.
• Promote a strong culture of accountability, safety, quality, and continuous improvement.
• Ensure appropriate documentation, procedures, and controls are maintained across manufacturing and supply-chain activities.

• Lead, coach, and develop production and operations personnel.
• Establish clear expectations and performance standards for the production team.
• Foster a culture of ownership, teamwork, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Work cross-functionally with engineering, quality, sales, finance, customer service, and management.
• Identify staffing and training needs and develop employees to strengthen the organization's operational capabilities.

• 5+ years of progressive experience in manufacturing, production, operations, or a related environment.
• Demonstrated experience managing manufacturing operations and production teams.
• Strong understanding of purchasing, procurement, supply chain, inventory management, and supplier relationships.
• Experience developing and managing production schedules.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing processes, capacity planning, material requirements, and operational workflows.
• Proven ability to reduce costs, improve productivity, and increase operational efficiency.
• Experience with ERP/MRP systems and production or inventory-management software.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
• Strong leadership skills with a hands-on management approach.
• Bachelor's degree in Manufacturing, Operations, Supply Chain, Business, Engineering, or a related field preferred; equivalent industry experience may be considered.

• Lean Manufacturing / Continuous Improvement experience.
• Experience with MRP/ERP systems.
• Experience with demand planning and capacity planning.
• Supplier negotiation and vendor-management experience.
• Experience managing inventory and working-capital reduction initiatives.
• Experience with cost-reduction and process-improvement programs.
• Experience working in a high-mix, high-volume, engineered-to-order, or custom manufacturing environment.
• Strong understanding of production costing, BOMs, routings, lead times, and material requirements.
• Experience managing cross-functional teams and operational improvement projects.

Success in this position will be measured by improvements in:

• On-time production and customer delivery
• Production throughput and productivity
• Manufacturing cost and labor efficiency
• Material availability and supplier performance
• Inventory accuracy and inventory turns
• Scrap, rework, and waste reduction
• Production downtime and capacity utilization
• Purchasing costs and supplier lead times
• Quality performance
• Safety performance
• Overall operational efficiency